‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ Cast Attend New York Premiere

British actors Idris Elba and Naomie Harris attended the New York premiere of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” last night at Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan, hosted by the Weinstein Company with Mercedes-Benz, South African Airways & DeLeón Tequila. The film, based on former South African President Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, opens in theaters on Nov. 29.

Idris Elba and Naomie Harris attend the New York premiere of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” Thursday at Alice Tully Hall.

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Mr. Mandela’s daughter Zindzi attended the premiere and said of the movie, “I feel both humbled and grateful, humbled that I can be part of this history in the making and grateful that, you know, the story of my parents, their life experience, the story of black South Africans and what they went through under apartheid, that that is being recognized, that is being documented.”

Mandela said the movie “was an emotional journey for me as well, taking me back to what it is that we’ve survived, the hardships that we went through. I think for me the most difficult was perhaps the depiction of how my sister and I were often alone together as children, with no emotional supports, where people were actually afraid to be seen to be helping us.”

She said her father enjoyed the clip that he saw, and “he still needs to see the whole movie with us.” Asked how he is, Mandela said, “He’s fine. As he himself says, he’s not sick, he’s just old.”

Elba said when he heard that he got the role of Mandela, “I felt that it was joke actually. I didn’t think it was a real phone call because my agent likes to prank on me. But essentially, you know, I felt wow, I don’t know if I can do that. I wasn’t sure if I could, it’s such a big role. But eventually I kind of understood what the role was, I understood the way they wanted to make the film and I got more confident about playing him.”

Was he scared about playing one of the world’s most revered leaders? “Of course I was scared, absolutely,” he said.

For Zindzi Mandela and director Justin Chadwick, there was no doubt that Elba was right for the role. Mandela, during a speech before the screening, described the actor as “a man who is so exceptionally talented, yet so humble, so wise, a man of integrity, who better to play the role of Nelson Mandela who has similar qualities.” Chadwick said Elba was his first choice, calling him “true and honest.”

Harris said she didn’t know that Winnie Mandela “was as complex as she is. I didn’t know about her contributions to the anti-apartheid movement so for me that was all a revelation and a real sense of discovery. And I didn’t know that what I was actually saying yes to is the most challenging role that I’ve played so far.”

When she met Winnie Mandela, she asked her, “How do you want to be portrayed, how do you want people to perceive you? And her answer was, you’re the right person for this role, and you’ve done your research and I trust you to portray me faithfully. All that I ask is for honesty. So she didn’t have a set idea about how she should be played but she was amazing to me. It was really liberating.”

The actress said the most challenging part of her role was “dealing with all the dark areas of Winnie, the seething rage, the anger, the frustration. To inhabit those emotions and then hold them for months during filming is never comfortable. But it wasn’t a comfortable experience for her living through it. So in order to portray that you have to go there,” said Harris, who will return to her role in the next James Bond film. She said she hopes “Mandela” gets the recognition it deserves.

Director Chadwick said having the film shown in New York “is a dream” and he’s delighted that it has been picked up for distribution because it’s tough for independent films to compete with Hollywood blockbusters.

“We made this independent movie in Africa, financed out of South Africa, you know, with hundreds and thousands of men and women who have been involved in the making of it. To have this film playing in New York City, in a market that is so full of big-budget, action and CGI movies … is so exciting.”

More important, the British director said, “We made this for an audience to understand that there is inequality, there is injustice in the world and this gives you something to do with them. Mandela gives you hope. He gives you something to do with that anger, with that injustice. But also it’s a story about forgiveness. And as much as it’s about apartheid and injustice, it’s a film about love…family. I hope the film makes his journey even more extraordinary so it inspires a modern audience that we can in fact change, you can have a set of beliefs that you believe in. And that’s what Mandela is, his story is a story for all of us.”

Producer Anant Singh, who spent more than 20 years getting the film made, said he had to persevere, gaining inspiration from Mr. Mandela’s 27-years in prison. “I couldn’t let him down, I couldn’t let myself down.” Late last year, he was able to spend a day with Mandela and showed him scenes from the film. “He was very happy,” Singh said, and when he saw Elba in the scene as an older man, wearing a Mandela shirt, he asked “Is this me?” and the producer said he smiled and joked about it.

At the jam-packed after-screening party at Stone Rose Lounge inside the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, the cast and crew celebrated and posed for more pictures. Elba, surrounded by well-wishers, bopped his head to the music of DJ M.O.S.

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